On Idaho’s first possession in Autzen Stadium on Saturday, the Vandals’ deep snapper launched a snap over his punter’s head, sending the ball back to the Idaho 3-yard line, where the Ducks took over on downs and scored on the next play.
And it didn’t get much better for the Vandals from there.
Oregon put on an offensive spectacle Saturday in front of a sellout home crowd, winning the game 58-21 to move its record to 3-0 on the season. The Ducks rushed for 165 yards, passed for 238 yards and put up many more impressive statistics in the blowout.
Still, the Ducks said they were not entirely satisfied with their performance.
“We played spectacularly at times but not as consistently as I would have liked,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “But I’ll take a 58-21 win any time.”
Onterrio Smith put up 104 yards, his lowest rushing total of the young season, but scored three touchdowns in the victory. Running backs Allan Amundson and Kenny Washington also rushed for touchdowns, while Jason Fife passed for two more.
All those touchdowns came in only 21 minutes of possession-time for the Ducks, who often found themselves working with short fields.
“We were looking at each other on the sidelines and saying ‘Man, we’ve had 30-yard fields all day,’” Smith said.
The average starting field position for the Ducks was the Idaho 47-yard line, while the average starting position for the Vandals was their own 20-yard line.
Part of the reason for the Ducks’ short field was the play of punter Jose Arroyo. After poor punting performances in Oregon’s first two games, the Ducks were ranked 105th in the nation in net punting headed into the game. But Arroyo improved Saturday, punting for an average of 45.5 yards against Idaho.
“I told Jose to kick about 80 percent, and he executed very well,” Bellotti said. Arroyo didn’t see much action in the second half, when the Ducks scored on four straight possessions, starting late in the third quarter. Oregon also had a string of four-straight scores in the first half.
Smith opened up all the scoring with a three-yard touchdown run after the Vandals fumbled their first punt-snap. That drive was only three seconds long, but the Ducks scored almost as quickly later in the first half when Fife hit Samie Parker for an 80-yard scoring strike on the first play of a drive. Oregon also had drives of seven plays and five plays in the first half.
The defense “will probably tease me in practice this week, tell me to stay out on the field longer,” Fife said. “But if anything, (getting a quick score) just pumps up the offense more, gets us excited.”
In the second half, even the substitutes had success against Idaho’s weak defense. Backup quarterback Kellen Clemens came into the game at the start of the fourth quarter and led the Ducks on two scoring drives, and third-string quarterback Scott Vossmeyer even saw some time.
Bellotti played every member of the team that was eligible to play in the game.
“We played a lot of people today, and that will be a dividend down the road for us,” Bellotti said.
The Ducks’ next opponent will be Portland State at Autzen next Saturday, the last in a string of four straight home games to open the season.
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